rons bikes blog dot com

since this is a quit corner of my internet life, let me let you insiders in on a little insider’s secret —- we’ve had a “sprinter” van since nov. 2018. We lived in it for 2 whole years before covid, after having lived off of our bicycles for 3 years (Arya), 6 years (me) prior. It was a big life upgrade that i was self conscious for multiple reasons about in 2018, but in 2023 … well… could i even hold a conversation with 2018 Ronnie? The answer is of course a capital YES (i love myself), but the topics would de different is all….

long story short, Arya and i are teaming up to allow for some independent travel time this year. With the factory and new business acquisitions and all, it was unclear if we’d be able to get away much like we’d ordinarily done over the span of our 10 year relationship. Since we’d last been professional travelers in 2020 we’d filled our situationally idyl lives with all the baggage that comes with staying in one place (it happens quick!). We’ve had plenty of long conversations and musings about how to get back to that life, and not that our current lives weren’t filled with purpose and joys… just looking to balance the two.

I like to slowly take the van west for a few months each winter, and she likes to race the tour divide or something similar each summer. We do nearly everything together, so some time apart is looked at as an opportunity to feel what its like to miss one another and share our duties at Ron’s Bikes and Nutmeg Needleworks. Working out well so far, although she did miss watching the Rihana halftime show with me over FaceTime last night…

here are some photos of my slow drive west so far.

First stop was somewhere in western PA on the way down to visit my olde friend Katie in West Virginia. A fortuitous stop off the highway to sleep for the night turned into a most excellent zone to explore by bike after my morning emails the next day. As you can see above, i have a new fast bike that i am slowly building out of the back of the van (more on that below).

Next its on to West Virginia where i meet up with Katie and her fam. We’ve been friends since college, such nice feelings.

Then on to Kentucky. Never been to Kentucky. I finished building up that mystery bike from my off the highway camp spot, and took it out on some narrow ribbons of pavement

Ill be sure to dedicate a whole post to this bike, but there ya go for now. It’s fast. It’s 700×42. Its made by frank. Like I said more later.

This ride in Kentucky featured amazing roads and surfaces, but unfortunately every time i saw a dog, which was often, a dog would chase me. I lost count. Suffice to say i spent the ride mostly sprinting away from dogs and not taking photos.

So thats that for part 1. Have a good week!

R.R.